More jobseekers using social media in the USA

Fascinating report into the current US job market sparked my interest. I’m usually careful about reblogging or assuming that what goes in the US is relevant to my UK clients, but this report By Jobvite (PDF) contains lots of food for thought.

It stands to reason really when you understand that referrals are still fundamentally the most common way to secure a new job.

Young professionals build their networks faster and generate more referrals online (when compared to previous generations still using more traditional methods) and social media is the arena for that networking more and more.

The astronomical growth of social networks has created a new way for companies and candidates to connect online. Nielsen calculates social network traffic grew by 43% from June 2009 to June 2010, and social network activity is now the single largest activity online, dwarinng online games, email and search. And Americans are now turning to their social networks to find jobs.

44% of all job seekers cited referrals and/or social networks as the source of their most recent job, compared to 32% for job boards (note, respondents could select multiple options).

18% of respondents ages 18-24 and 19% of respondents ages 25-34 used social networks to find their current job, compared to 9% of those 35-44, 4% of those 45-54 , and 1% of those 55+.

Extrapolated to the national adult population, approximately 14.4 million US American job seekers would credit online social networks for their current/most recent job.